Home styling

New shoot in Pocketto magazine styled by me and shot in my home by Aimee from Cavaan, that is my fish right there (he kinda has no name but if people ask it's Harajuku) Check out the shoot and tell me what you think. I think its a bit of a departure from what I normally do, I tried to girlie-fy the look making it young and fresh. The inspiration came from these two recent shoots in the Japanese magazine So-En that are full of colour and a mixture of traditional ethnic and modern styles. Why are Japanese magazines always so amazing?

Halloween

I went as Beth Ditto. Yes my hair is PURPLE! I bought temporary 6 wash black hair dye and it made my hair bloody PURPLE. I was happy to have black hair for a week, but purple hair? No thanks. I'm washing my hair with anti dandruff shampoo 3 times a day to get it out!
I made the silver top in about 6 minutes when my first idea of an outfit failed at the last minute. Luckily had bought silver sequin fabric on sale at Lincraft.










The party was at Pat's house. How awesome is his handmade costume?


Simon came as Grace Jones being attacked by ravens.




Greta in black.




Vlad and Cami looked amazing.


Mia and me. No idea how my tongue ended up so red?


Costume of the night!






Lovely Lauren in her ghost skirt


Where's Wally?


Tully always looks hot.




Jack as Azaria Chamberlain getting eaten by the dingo....Controversial!








Clea used acrylic paint on her face because the face paint she bought didn't work. Now that's dedication!


Nathan as a square jack-o-lantern.

How does one become a Lady?

Recently I caught up with the ever glamorous Petrova of Lady Petrova to talk about her new very colourful Summer collection, which is in-store as of today!



FH: Recently you re branded as Lady Petrova, where does the name come from?
LP: My father was a fashion designer & his label was called "Lord Kim," so when I graduated from RMIT several years ago & decided to start my own label it was called "Lady Petrova" in ode to him. When I opened the boutique in 2007 with my business partner I changed the name to "Lady," I am now running the label & boutique by myself again & have changed the name of the label & store back to "Lady Petrova"

FH: What was the inspiration behind your SS09/10 collection?
LP: The collection draws inspiration from the classic 80's cult film 'Heathers' & the artworks of Sonia Delauney.
The high Summer collection explores the power of cliques & colour theory.
I wanted to explore the feeling of belonging to a group, just to be part of something & named the garments reflecting this, such as the white lace dress, which is called "She's my best friend, god I hate her"
I have always been interested in colour theory & believe that wearing certain colours can influence your mood, did you know that your fingertips can read colour? I love that all colours have different vibrations & together they can create a musical orchestra.



FH: The collection is very colourful, which is coming to be known as a Petrova trademark. Do you think you could ever create an all black collection like this seasons Project Runway Aus winner Anthony Capon?
LP: This collection is very colourful due to the inspiration. I never say never, so it could be possible that I might one day create an all black range.
(I loved everything Anthony created by the way.) I just find colour & fabrics so inspiring!
I am a designer who gets very obsessed with the inspiration of my current collection that I am designing, that it is more about translating the mood of the theme rather than just being colourful for colourful's sake. My winter collection that I am working on at the moment has a much more sinister theme & will have some darker pieces.

FH: What is your favourite thing about Summer?
LP: Everything! I grew up at Bondi Beach, so Summer always feels more nostalgic & more me.
I can't wait until it is warm enough to just throw on a dress & some heels & go out without worrying about a cardigan & a umbrella!


The above white lace dress is my personal favourite of the collection.

FH: Are you attending the races? I can see that your shop is in full Spring Racing mode with beautiful vintage hats and handmade fascinators.
LP: I would love to go to the Races this year, but I just don't have time! I do dress lots of ladies for it, so I feel like a little bit of me is in every outfit!
I love the tradition of the Races & the effort most people in Melbourne make to look their best, anything that encourages lots of accessories & colour co-ordination is fabulous to me!
Yes, I do have heaps of pretty hats & fascinators in the shop this year, I have a mixture of vintage, new designers & one off pieces that I have hand made.

FH: What can customers look forward to in store at Lady Petrova in coming weeks?
LP: I have so many exciting labels arriving in the next few weeks, my summer collection will start to arrive this week! State of Georgia, My Pet Square, Little Gracie, Saxonne, Talulah, Sumakhi & many more Australian labels will also be arriving weekly in the lead up to Christmas!


I love the naughty girls in the school toilet vibe of the lookbook

To become a Lady all one needs to do is visit Lady Petrova, who can often be found drinking raspberry cordial and eating cupcakes at:
Shop 3
237 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
(down Scott Alley)
View the whole collection and shop online at Lady Petrova

Fatshion: I talk plus size fashion on TV!

I was asked to talk about the issues I have faced as a plus sized women who happens to also love and work in fashion on Today Tonight. Yes I was nervous with how I might be portrayed but as it was Patty Huntington from Frockwriter who was asking, who I met at Spring Fashion Week, I trusted her to not sensationalise the story or embarrass me and turn what I had said around. I am really glad I did because now the issue is out there and perhaps something might be done about it.

Watch the video HERE

There are a few issues I want to address:

Plus sized women in magazines
As a stylist I actually see the issue from 2 sides, from the point of a plus sized person but also from the point of someone who works in the art of making beautiful fashion editorials. Yes I do want to see plus sized women in magazines but I also know that samples are all small size 8's and that as I'm only starting out in the business, if I sent a submission of plus sized fashion to a magazine I would get laughed at. Its the job of the in house fashion stylists and editors who have the power, and believe me if I ever got that far then yes I would push the issue. For now I want to work, but I do think about it. I loved that Harpers Bazzar Australian editorial from May 2009 of Crystal Renn by Louis Sanchis, an amazing example of what can be done.







Designers and boutiques having no over size 12
Why? Why not have a 14 and a 16? Isn't the average Australian women a size 14? Why are they just closing out a whole market? I'm a size 16 and I do manage to find clothes that fit, but that is because I am fashion obsessed and am willing to take risks. I don't only try on clothing in my "size" because I understand sizes are different in all stores. Recently I bought a size 8 dress because I could see even on the hanger that it would fit me how I wanted it to as I don't like baggy clothing on me, so if the style is a baggy style I will go down a few sizes to make it fit how I want it to. That dress gets me so many complements, it was $20 from Forever New DFO.



However it seems that a lot of other larger women have trouble. I was recently emailed from a reader, Jazz, who wrote:

"Hi Hayley,

I'm just emailing you to say I find your blog fascinating - in a non-stalker kinda way :P

I am also intrigued as I am also a more to love lady. I find it so hard to find decent clothes for my size that don't look like I'm wearing a mumu.

I'm in Perth myself and I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of anything online...

I am really into the rockabilly/50's style but I am generally a bit of anything - one minute I'm the rocker in the skinny jeans, the next I'm in a nice dress, the next I'm in jeans and a tshirt.

If I'm starting out too broad for you I completely understand.

Thanks for your time,

Jazz"

Well Jazz I discovered during filming the above story that Leona Edmiston stocks up to size 20 online (up to 16 in store).
However I'm not too familiar with shopping for clothing online. If I can't see the item in person and try it on I just can't be sure it will fit. I think it may also be the fact that I haven't got a lot of money at the moment and can't take any risks as I used to buy on ebay nearly every day back when I had a full time office job. So I am going to put the question to my readers who may have some good suggestions for you. I do know that Evans UK ships to Australia and they have some cute pieces from the Beth Ditto collection on sale right now.

There is so much more to say, about how I've been discriminated against numerous times in stores, when applying for fashion jobs etc. I want to hear your stories (if any) and then maybe with all our voices things will change?

Chuck's Life Less Serious Champion Challenge

I was invited to enter the Chupa Chups fashion blog challenge and excitedly said yes as I was to be sent a box of Chupa Chups and my very own Chuck doll. Who wouldn't say yes to that?







You can enter the $10,000 competition too at http://www.lifelessserious.com.au/

For the fashion challenge I had to create something related to fashion out of the humble, but very delicious, Chupa Chups. It was hard to not eat all the lolipops as soon as they came in the mail while I came up with my idea for the competition, but chewing on a Chupa Chups actually let me to my idea.



I realised once smashed up the lolipop pieces resemble beautiful crystals and beads so I decided to bedazzle the lapels of my very Balmain-esque old work blazer (circa 2006 back when I had an office job) to create a cutting edge fashion must have that also doubles as desert.

GPO $500 shopping spree

Alicia from Sea of Ghosts, Nadia from Animal Orchestra, Claire from Harbourmaster, Me, Estelle from One Perfect Morning & Lady Melbourne.

Sorry for the long absence, our internet was shaped due to my sister and I's love of watching Gossip Girl but not together, separately at the same time on different computers.

Anyway just a quick update about the $500 Melbourne's GPO shopping spree. The day was a huge success. My winner, Estelle from One perfect morning, chose the most beautiful pair of silk jodhpur style pants and a black silk dress with a giant blue zip both from Manning Cartell which when worn with pieces from her very own jewellery range just scream style ahoy. You can see a necklace from her new collection in the very first photo, amazing yeah?

Shooting with Miranda Kerr, Megan Gale and Ruby Rose

The ever fabulous Ryan Lobo, stylist extraordinaire and editor of Pages online, asked me to assist on a shoot here in Melbourne. I said yes straight away because I love what he does, without knowing who, what, when or where the shoot was, ha. Then I got a text that it was on Friday, it was a shoot for WHO magazine and it was with Miranda Kerr, Megan Gale and Ruby Rose. It was like 7am when I got that text and I ran right into my sleeping sisters room and screamed Oh my god I'm assisting on a shoot with Miranda Kerr, oh my god! Not only her but Megan Gale AND Ruby Rose too. OH MY GOD. Ha. My sister registered the info and fell back to sleep, waking up a few hours later to tell me she had a dream that I was doing something with Miranda Kerr. I told her it was no dream, it was infact true and not only that but Megan Gale and Ruby Rose too. We wondered if Orlando Bloom would come to the shoot, having read in a gossip magazine that he often accompanies Miranda on set.

Anyway I still didn't know the time or the location, and I actually didn't find out until the day of the shoot where exactly we were going (maybe because of paparazi?). Scott, my assistant also joined us as it was a big job and also because he can drive, ha, which was needed later on when the girls asked for warm robes and fluffy towels, ha (not a big demand really when the location was Elwood beach on a freezing cold rainy day). We were the celebrities bitches! I was Miranda's robe girl, placing it on her shoulders. Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself. I was there for the clothes not the celebs, and oh boy the clothes, things I've only ever dreamed of being in the vicinity of. Because of the nature of the shoot it was all very commercial and glamourous. Gowns by Kirrily Johnston and Gucci. Lots of Josh Goot. YSL heels.


The rack. So many clothes for 3 looks on each girl. You need to have options as they have a lot of say in what they wear, which was surprising. The whole day was a huge learning experience really. I've only worked on creative editorials, this was my first commercial shoot. Commercial shoots are the bread and butter of styling. They pay the bills and the editorials get your name out there but give you no immediate financial return. I knew all that already, but I didn't know just how intense commercial shoots were first hand. So much equipment, so many people, a "honey van", catering etc, all of which I assumed would be there but it still was a surprise.


Gucci dress.


Alexander Wang blazer. It was made in China! The quality was terrible, it looked like a blazer from Valleygirl. We had a blazer by the Olsen twins label The Row as well and wow the quality was amazing, the fabric was so soft and the cut was amazing, even the buttons seemed to be of amazing quality. The things you learn.


Swimsuit options.


More swimsuit options.


YSL heels





Gucci heels


Louis Vuitton boots


Ryan "dressed" me with a Louis Vuitton wedge on my head and one of their "Hong Kong fashion" mini dresses as Ryan calls them, attached to me.


The dressing room at Sails on the bay who were kind enough to let us take over their foyer to get out of the cold. I was the only one who knew their TV ad song it seemed, singing "live a little, relax a little, sails on the bay". Click here to have a listen, haha.


The horrible weather.


The shoot set up on the beach.


Getting their hair fixed. From left to right Miranda, Ruby and Megan.

I have to hold some photos of the looks until the issue of WHO magazine comes out in a few weeks. I have a photo of basically what the cover is going to look like.


We had a change of location to a nearby hotel for the swimwear looks.






The swimsuits all lined up again.

It was a hilarious day really. They also filmed a spot for the 7pm project with Ruby interviewing the girls. Can't wait to watch that. I learnt that celebrities are just normal people, except with drivers, publicists and people like me to do get fluffy towels for them. They joke at the media, Miranda made jokes about being too thin which was reported in the Daily Mail UK the day before the shoot. For the record she didn't seem too thin at all, she just seemed like a model. Oh and Orlando didn't come to the set, but he did phone a few times.